Seven Dwarf Clans and Seven Blessings From Mahal
by Balin Lord of Moria
Summary: Aulë, creator of the Dwarf people, pronounces Ilúvatar's blessings and warnings on the Seven Clans of the Dwarves. Resembles Revelation 2-3 in the Bible. Talks about events from the First through the Third Age.


**A/N:** This fanfic is partly inspired and partly styled after Revelation 2-3 in the Bible. Most of the information here was found in a few Middle-earth PDFs about the races of Middle-earth, and the Khuzdul names readers probably won't recognize were mostly found in an online English-to-Khuzdul dictionary. I like that God's favorite number, seven, is associated with many things in Middle-earth, including the Dwarves.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any Middle-earth works or the Bible; Middle-earth belongs first and foremost to Tolkien, and the Bible's authors have all passed on.

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**Seven Dwarf Clans and Seven Blessings From Mahal**

"Aulë, Smith of the Valar, write the following blessings and warnings to the Seven Clans of the Dwarves. These messages are My will, but because the Dwarf race gives their reverence to thee as their creator, or Mahal, thou art to deliver the blessings, for while I have graciously adopted thy children, they are still thy children, and therefore thy responsibility." So said Eru Ilúvatar to Aulë of the Valar.

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**To the Longbeard Clan**

To the Sigin-tarâg,

I know your great deeds, my noble folk of Durin, how you have delved Khazad-dûm into one of the greatest of all Dwarf realms, how you have honored your holy ground of Kheled-zâram, Kibil-nâla, and Azanulbizar, and how you maintain respect and sometimes even friendship with the Elves that your kind normally shuns. You have mined the most valuable metal ever to exist in Middle-earth, _mithril_, and distributed it well among the Free Peoples, even giving one mail shirt of _mithril_ to an adventuresome Hobbit. Your valor in leading the War of the Dwarves and Orcs was also noble, not because of your vengeance, but because you cleansed the Misty Mountains of most of the Goblins who unrightfully inhabit the mountain passes. And most of your rulers, from Durin the Deathless to Dáin Ironfoot and Balin, have ruled with benevolence for their race and care for their treasure.

Yet I do hold one thing against you, and that is the greed and self-absorption that has come with the Seven Rings of Power for the Dwarf Lords, for while "seven" is the "lucky number" of the Khazâd race, the Seven Rings are not lucky, but rather cursed, by the hands of Sauron, and have caused only trouble for you, for as the Dwarf King Thrór once stated, your Ring needed gold to breed gold. But take comfort, for it has been foreseen that one day before the Third Age ends, a Dwarf will come who will restore the dormant friendship between Dwarves and Elves, and whose hands will flow with gold, but over whom gold will have no dominion.

He who overcomes the evils of the world, I will give him a share of the true jewels and gold of the Pillars of Stone when the world is renewed.

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**To the Firebeard Clan**

To the Urs-tarâg,

These are the words of Mahal, your Maker, and his Maker, Eru Ilúvatar, giver of life and father-of-all. I know that by yourselves you have little strength, so I have provided you, as well as the other Dwarf Clans, with endurance and indomitability unlike any other Free People, but yours is the mightiest of all. You have stood up to the weapons of steel, fire and ice of Morgoth and Sauron hardier than any other Clan, with your chain-mail armor and wicked masked helms, and King Azaghâl of your kind was the only one besides Túrin son of Húrin who could plunge a deadly wound into Glaurung, father of Dragons. With the hammer and the anvil you have made much to endure your physical suffering in war, and have provided well for the Longbeard and Broadbeam Clans, as well.

One day, the Lord Eru will make the dark souls of your old enemies kneel before you and admit that you are just as much His and my children as all the other Dwarves and Free Peoples, before they are cast into outer darkness. The Dragons you slew shall be put out of existence forever by your swords, save Glaurung, the bane of Húrin's family. And then you, Úri's Folk, shall have their names, Khuzdul and Westron alike, to be written down in the One's Book of Life.

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**To the Broadbeam Clan**

To the Findu-Nahâb,

I want you to know, my children, that I am aware of your virtues, how you have become the finest smiths in Middle-earth, second only to the Noldor Elves, and that you provided the world with the greatest Dwarf smith of all time, Telchar. You have also given knowledge of your smith work to the noble Longbeards of Khazad-dûm and the feisty Firebeards of Gabilgathol, and thus spread your talent far and abroad, like the Firebeards did with their armor and weapons, and the Longbeards did with their _mithril_.

Yet I hold this against you, that your ancestors became possessed with greed for the Nauglamir necklace and the _silmaril_ embedded in it, so much so that they murdered the Elven King Thingol and many innocent Elves and sacked Doriath. Their cruelty invoked the righteous wrath of Beren and the Ents as well. It is because of the misdeeds of your Clan that the Ents dislike the Dwarves so much. You must repent of those actions and turn back to the old honor you once possessed in the beginning when Tumunzahar was founded, or Eru the One will cast you on a bed of suffering from which there is no leaving. But I am glad that there are some among you who have already repented, some of whom live in Erebor with the King under the Mountain, and I pray that more of you will follow their example.

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**To the Ironfist Clan**

To the Kirikh-Mazur,

I am impressed by your martial prowess, and your strength lent a great hand to the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. However, I am also displeased by your indulgence in the work of cult practices like fortune telling and being shamans for the superstitious Easterlings. Nor do I love your action of freely giving weapons and armor to the agents of Mordor in exchange for gold. If you do not turn back to the ways I, Mahal, predestined for you, I will spit you out of my mouth instead of welcoming you into my embrace at the renewal of the world. You think you are rich and wealthy and do not need anything, but you are poor, blind, naked, and pitiful. You descendants of Thelor must look for the true gold of the Dwarves, love, friendship, and loyalty to goodness, if you are to have any hope of contributing to the Dwarven rebuilding of the new Middle-earth.

To him who overcomes evil, I will give the right to join me in my _dûm_, my mansions, and increase in its beauty.

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**To the Stiffbeard Clan**

To the Mabal-tarâg,

I know about your afflictions, how your story is so sad, with the internal strife and the passing from realm to realm, not to mention your absorption into the ranks of the Blacklocks; yet you are one of the richest of the Dwarf Clans! Though you are shy, you are peaceful and wholesome merchants who deal in beautiful objects, you decorate and carve your caves well, and your clever skills are unique among Dwarves. I know you had to endure the intrusion of many evil Men into your lands, and that they have persecuted you and driven you close to an endangered race, but do not be afraid! The Ring that drove you to greed is gone now, and while evil Men will not relent right away, they will be properly punished in the end, and you, my children, if you remain faithful to the end, shall receive crowns that will never perish.

He who overcomes all evil foes will never be hurt by the condemnation of the Dark Lords, Morgoth and Sauron.

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**To the Blacklock Clan**

To the Dush-zharum,

This is what I have to say to you. It makes my heart glad that you are faithful to me to this day. Your art is unsurpassed among most other artists in Middle-earth, and you have dug up some of the finest gems and jewels to be found in the far East of the earth. Even the gems and jewels of Durin's folk do not surpass the loveliness of those unearthed by the descendants of Druin the Proud. Like the Longbeards and the Stiffbeards, I have little criticism for you at this point, for you are extremely loyal to me, and to the culture of the Khazâd.

To him who endures to the end, I will give him a new Khuzdul name only him, Eru, and myself, know.

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**To the Stonefoot Clan**

To the Aban-bushûd,

I do not altogether approve of your extreme reclusiveness, but you are no less worthy of a blessing than the other six Clans. You are warlike and proud, children of Rúras, but you made an effective contribution to the Dwarf and Orc War with your fighting talents. You also fought against many deadly Dragons with the help of my former servant Curumo, or Saruman, as most Men in Middle-earth know him, and they have never been able to take away your ancestral home. True, you did develop weapons that Saruman has used for evil purposes, but he is to blame for that, not you, so it is forgiven.

Remain faithful, and I will acknowledge your names before Eru at the renewal of the world.

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**************Tolkien believed that he had not _devised_ his magnificent mythical world so much as he had _found_ it-indeed, that it had been revealed to him by God. Once when asked what a certain passage in _The Lord of the Rings_ meant, he replied: "I don't know; I'll try to find out." "Always I had the sense," he declared, "of recording what was already 'there,' somewhere: not of 'inventing'". The tales arose in his mind, he confessed, "as 'given' things, and as they came, so too the links grew." Tolkien thus came to regard his characters and their realm not as fictional but as historical persons and places! Venice, he confessed, was like "a dream of old Gondor." - excerpt from _The Gospel According To Tolkien_**

******Because of my love for fantasy, science fiction, and an unseen world that can be better (and happier) than the stoic real world, I agree with J.R.R. Tolkien; if you believe in God, then He will give you inspiration and knowledge to write fanfics or other stories that are just as real and maybe even historical to you as Tolkien's stories were to him.**


End file.
